Revolutionary War

Downsizing and turbocharging signal a break with the 2017 Honda Civic Si’s past—but only a partial one.

- Jared Gall

Revolutions per minute are suffering a low birth rate. Granted, they’re still something that we generally encounter by the thousands, but their populations are slipping. The Civic Si is the latest to have its revs edged out by the auto industry’s most invasive of species, the turbocharged psi. The naturally aspirated 2.4-liter inline-four in this car’s predecessor wound to 7400 rpm, but the turbocharged 1.5-liter unit in the gen-10 model waves the white flag at 6600. For decades, the Civic Si has been defined by its engine, by the joy of the car rooted in the challenge and satisfaction of shuffling screaming rpm with a nice, tight manual transmission. Now, not long after the spot in the old Si where the high-rpm cam lobes would engage and your spine started to tingle, this new Si gives you three quick flashes of the shift lights and smacks you in the face with the fuel cutoff. So long and farewell, VTEC-shrieking Civic Si. But how’s this new reality?

Damn good. The Si has always been an adept handler, and this generation, available as a coupe or a sedan, is the best ever.

The body shell is shared with the regular Civic, with no stiffening or reinforcing to be found, but such measures aren’t necessary. The suspension does get a thorough rework for Si duty, however. Honda stiffened the springs and anti-roll bars, both bits by 7 percent in the front. The rear springs are 32 percent firmer, and the antiroll bar has 26 percent more starch. Solidrubber bushings replace the base Civic’s fluid-filled pieces, and adaptive dampers bolt to more rigid mounts. The stiffened upper links in the multilink rear suspension are shared with the upcoming Civic Type R. The variable-ratio steering rack carries over, but gets a more powerful motor and unique tuning. We pulled 0.97 g on the skidpad with the eyeball burner on these pages (Honda calls the color Energy Green), tying the likes of the BMW M3 and the Jaguar F-type.